Local government/municipality

The project is a part of a larger initiative to revitalize this neglected district of the city and involves redevelopment and expansion of rain drainage system in Gdynia Chylonia. It resulted in the construction of rainwater retention systems and rainwater sewage systems with safe rainwater discharge to the Chylonka River. The aim of the wider initiative is to ensure a more decent standard of living and social cohesion by revitalizing the neglected areas of Gdynia [1,2,4].

A botanical garden in a forest was created owing to the cooperation of Gdansk Forest District with the city of Gdynia and the University of Gdansk. It consists of 27 thematic collections, covering ca. 50 ha, and adjacent forest phytocoenoses. The garden is specialized in showcasing trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants of the nemoral and boreal zone, particularly species indigenous for the Pomorze Gdanskie region. The garden protects a collection of species endangered and rare in the region and protected by law, as well as an orchard of old forms of fruit trees and shrubs [1,3].
The initial works have been completed, but greenery planting and further investments in the garden are ongoing. The botanical garden is a long-term undertaking and many plants were planted long before the construction began and the garden will "grow" up to 20 years [5].

This pilot project to create social gardens in Gdynia was developed by a cooperative of the local government, NGO sector and businesses. The project involved creating 3 (and finally 6) social gardens in different locations of Gdynia (Oksywie, Grabówek and Redłowo). They serve ecologic (greenery planting), horticultural (jointly managed vegetable and herb gardens), social (community integration) and educational (workshops on topics such as healthy lifestyle or building bird boxes) purposes. The gardens are being co-managed on a voluntary basis by the local communities with the help of an appointed gardener and an animator [1,4]. The project is based on 4 pillars: 1) social participation; 2) innovation; 3) social sensitivity; 4) food anthropology [5].

Tondiraba is a green urban area located in Lasnamäe, it is a valuable area with a diverse landscape which at the start of the initiative was severely overgrown and randomly used. The city planned to build an eco-golf course where the diverse and species-rich landscape and protected species are preserved. The architecture of the golf course is based on the advantages of the natural location and an ‘eco-golf course' concept. These landscapes and their flora were generated with landscape maintenance methods, which results in ‘micro-communities’ in which the ecosystems characteristic of the given area would start developing (ref 1, 5).

In 2017, under a bigger project, the municipality of Sintra started the work for the rehabilitation of an area that included beaches and rivers, such as the Mata river. The NBS solves a problem of accumulation of water and sludge that was unsolved, through the recovery and cleaning of Ribeira da Mata (small river/brook), planting trees and promotion of an improvement in water quality and sand on the beach.
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The Strasbourg Grandeur Nature Plan is engineered by Strasbourg Metropole and is focused on optimising the actions and resources and resources of local authorities in the maintenance of local biodiversity and improving the living environment (Ref. 7). It combines with local associations and citizens through organising interfaces (e.g. workshops, online tools) that allow relevant local authorities to engage with local projects and make interventions on the basis of proposals made by the community. The project aims at improving the maintenance and development of green spaces and biodiversity due to the environmental issues surrounding urban sprawls (Ref. 4).

The main problem of Lake Ülemiste is high phytoplankton biomass, which increases the cost of water treatment (ref 1). Improving the water quality of Lake Ülemiste by biomanipulation has been considered as a management alternative. Lake Ülemiste was bio-remediated after reduction of external loading and the shifts in water quality were studied during the active-phase of the measure. (ref 1). Tallinn obtains 88% of the water it needs from Lake Ülemiste. Pine forest in the sanitary protection zone surrounding Lake Ülemiste offers several ecosystem services that help to improve the quality of the city’s drinking water (ref 4).

This project aimed at the reconstruction of the Lepiku channel that is part of the drainage system, which starts next to the Tallinn Botanic Garden and includes wetlands, detention ponds, ditches and channels and flows into the Pirita river. The aim of the project was to improve the quality of the stormwater that flows into the Pirita river which is a Natura 2000 site and flows into the Baltic Sea. The work included: widening of channel bottom in different segments, creating artificial dykes and rapids and creating suitable conditions for the aquatic plants exhibited in Botanic Garden (ref 1). With the project, 200m of the channel was reconstructed (ref. 5).

Based on a neighbourhood survey the results pointed to a lack of green recreational spaces, in 2015 the citizens initiated a project to develop a new green square at the Zielona Street 19 in Gdynia. The project was implemented in 2018 and it aimed at improving the aesthetics of the district and provide green leisure space for the community. The initiative involves the management of the existing lawn, planting shrubs and trees, creating flowerbeds, building alleys and installing street lamps, creating variously-shaped wooden benches and litter bins, as well as building a fenced sandpit and a playground [1].

The Danube Eco-District project is Strasbourg's first eco-districy and is based on previous experimental designs in sustainable urban living (Ref. 27, 30). It is situated at the heart of the axis Deux Rives, and is thus a strategic point of the large Franco-German Deux Rives project (Ref. 28). The district will have the capacity for 20,000 residents, and will include green spaces, green roofs, insect hotels (Ref. 1), various water management facilities (ditches, swales... etc.), and composting facilities (Ref. 4). The project aims to improve biodiversity, social equality, ecology, reduce urban heating, and promote sustainable consumption (Ref. 30).